County pays admin search tab: $12,000

The Otsego County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to transfer $12,000 from its contingency fund to the administrative search account at the recommendation of the finance committee.

Committee chairman Paul Beachnau said, "We were able to look back on the process and say we just didn't feel comfortable with having the Economic Alliance contribute the money. We felt very strongly that should be a function of county government." He noted the OCEA's money should go toward its mandate of enhancing economic development.

Beachnau indicated the $12,000 would not break the contingency fund, which he said has had some unforeseen income, including $30,000 from the sale of motor pool equipment and an anticipated $21,000 from the temporary lease of county property at the new bus garage to Zaremba Equipment of Elmira.

In December of last year, the board voted at a special meeting to work with Dr. Lynn Harvey, a public administration expert from MSU, who had offered to assist the county in its efforts to locate an administrator. Harvey told the board at the time that it need not pay a consultant to do the work, explaining his services could be offered for free.

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In January, the OCEA offered to pay up to $10,000 to hire Ross Childs, former Grand Traverse County administrator, to conduct the search. Childs is an independent contractor specializing in public administrator searches. Subsequently, the administrative search committee, formed in December, chose to work with Childs. At the time, board chairman Lee Olsen said it was his understanding Childs's role in the process would require no county funds because the OCEA would raise money for the express purpose of paying Childs's $8,000 fee plus expenses.

As for the apparent funding flip-flop, Olsen said as the process moved forward, board members began to realize it was a function the county should have been paying for all along.

OCEA Executive Director Jeff Ratcliffe confirmed the group was not paying for Childs's services, but that his board had made the offer because it was concerned about the county's tight budget. "We're glad they went through the process," Ratcliffe said. "I think we've got a very forward-looking county commission."

Olsen said concerns had been raised by some elected officials and others over any appearance that, if the OCEA funded the search, the group might unduly influence the process.

"The Economic Alliance has not had any more input into this process than anyone else," Olsen continued. "We think it was in the best interest of all parties concerned that (the county pay for it)."

Further, Olsen said had Harvey been chosen to assist the board, he would simply have directed and advised board members and that the county would still have needed someone to perform all the tasks Childs has done, including establishing priorities for what to seek in candidates, placing advertisements in publications across the country, responding to applicants, producing a set of hundreds of interview questions and coordinating all recruitment activities.

Commissioners today are interviewing four candidates for the position: